Spidey hits on a Valkyrie ... so then he gets hit! 👊🕷

While reading Marvel Team-Up #116 (1972 CE) I ran across this sweet vintage panel of Valkyrie using the awesome Asgardian explicative:

The killing blue, her matching eyes, and those battle braids with penciller Herb Trimpe's detailed tip of the hat to Kirby's metal shading on the gorget & cloak clasps, all makes NorsePlay seriously want to make a t-shirt with it.

The comic itself has a study-weary frustrated Spider-Man taking a webslinging break, when he spots Valkyrie and is about to put the verbal moves on her, when she, under the influence of her possessed sword, cleaves the flagpole he's posed upon to woo her out from under him!

Like Völund and King Gunther of the Norse Lore, Peter Parker has bitten off far more than he can chew in intending to possess a battle goddess, and compared to those two, he doesn't even get her near his webshooter, illustrating that attracting the attention of a Valkyrie involves courting or achieving that attention-getting heroic death if you want that ride-along in her saddle. And subtextually, it's her weapon Dragonfang that gives Spidey his near fatal ride, which may also reflect the saga stories of cursed swords like Tyrfing getting their owners into trouble when blades get nakedly drawn.

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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology,  field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.